Maryland Democrats Want to Redistrict. Their State’s Senate President Isn’t Making It Easy.

As Democrats push ahead with nationwide redistricting efforts, Maryland has hit a snag. Its state Senate president is refusing to hold a special session on redistricting.

Bill Ferguson, the Democratic state Senate president, is resisting calls from local, state and national Democratic leaders to redistrict. Ferguson believes that the move is too risky for Maryland Democrats and that it has the potential to cost them seats. It is some of the last remaining tension within a party that has otherwise largely adopted a redistricting strategy in the face of Republican efforts to redraw maps in their favor.

While state Sen. Ferguson has remained steadfast in his stance against mid-decade redistricting in his state, Gov. Wes Moore, along with other state Democrats, have pushed ahead on redistricting in other ways.

“His position is on risk, on whether he thinks the risk is worth taking,” Rep. Steny Hoyer, who long served as part of House Democratic leadership, told NOTUS. “The president of the senate is a very respected individual, he’s an honest individual, I don’t think he’s trying to game anyone. I hope he comes to the conclusion that the risk is worth taking.”

Ferguson did little to address his disagreement with other Democrats in a statement to NOTUS.

“With this federal administration’s troubling willingness to ignore the law, Marylanders understand our vulnerability. We must act with urgency to confront the real challenges ahead in the upcoming session,” Ferguson said. “Everything else is a distraction from the mission.”

In the past few weeks, Ferguson has made the case against redistricting as a member of Moore’s Redistricting Advisory Commission, arguing that it could lead to Democrats losing seats that they already have if a new map is drawn.

“I feel it’s my duty and job to make the case that I made the caucus, who agreed that there are legal risks here that are unattainable and we need to fight in places that we can win and truly protect Marylanders,” Ferguson said in a radio interview with WBAL following the redistricting commission’s first meeting. “The moment we start moving forward to change mid-cycle redistricting, this current map is subject to judicial review, and has the high likelihood in my opinion of being thrown out and being replaced.”

It’s unclear how much support Ferguson’s opposition to redistricting has from his caucus in the state Senate, although he has said that it supports his position. Rep. Sarah Elfreth, who was a state senator alongside Ferguson for six years before being elected to Congress, said that “Bill is always in lockstep with his caucus.”

NOTUS reached out to other members of Maryland’s state Senate Democratic leadership, none of whom commented.

Moore has been a leading proponent of redistricting in his state, alongside both U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, the latter of whom is the chair of the governor’s redistricting commission.

Moore has not called for a special session on redistricting, and would need the state Senate president’s participation for the issue to be considered. If Ferguson were to support the move to redistrict, then after the advisory commission makes a recommendation, the state Senate could call a special session, vote on new maps and present them to voters, rather than wait until January — similar to the process currently taking place in Virginia.

A new map would at most eek out one more seat for Democrats in a state where they already control seven of eight congressional seats. But it’s one of the few states where Democrats can take matters into their own hands, a point that national Democratic leaders have made clear.

Reps. Jamie Raskin and Hoyer on Monday sent a letter to Ferguson urging him to push ahead with redistricting.

“We should absolutely do everything in our power to fight back against this outrageous Republican gerrymandering, and to the extent that people are raising questions about what Republican judges may do, that’s a legitimate factor to consider as well,” Raskin told NOTUS on Wednesday. “But I think everybody agrees that California has done the right thing and we can’t roll over and let the Republicans steamroll the elections and control congress.”

Ferguson, who was first elected to the state Senate in 2010, is a well-respected Democrat in Maryland politics. In the commission’s first meeting on Tuesday, members assured him that his concerns would be addressed as the body continues to consider redistricting.

“Two things are true at the same time. One is that the desire of Democrats to want to respond to what President Trump has unleashed is perfectly understandable, and I think justifiable in many cases,” Rep. Johnny Olszewski told NOTUS. “It’s also true that some of the concerns that have been raised, particularly here in Maryland by the Senate president, are worthy of exploring and understanding both through this commission process and through any other potential action that might be taken.”

“I really encourage this commission to dig into those issues — ultimately this is a decision for the General Assembly.”

For Rep. Glenn Ivey, the concern Ferguson has raised that Democrats could possibly lose seats doesn’t seem realistic. If the commission presents a new map, and it is contested in courts, Ivey says it’s more likely that they would return to the General Assembly to draw a new map rather than the state Supreme Court draw a new one itself that would hurt Democrats, which is Ferguson’s fear.

He also pointed out that the current congressional map was approved by former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, which he thinks would make it “surprising” if the largely Hogan-appointed Supreme Court didn’t just mandate that the current 7-1 map be used.

“I know these are unprecedented times, but this is Maryland, not the White House,” Ivey said.

For Rep. April McClain Delaney, the commission is important — and so is pushing back against Republican redistricting efforts.

“I think that they should have this commission, that they should look at it, but also that we can’t have one hand tied behind our back when the GOP across the board is trying to play dirty and undermine our democracy,” Delaney told NOTUS.